How good is the Nano Memory Man?

Everyone needs a stompbox.
Post Reply
User avatar
Zork
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1811
Joined: Thu Jan 19, 2012 7:01 am
Location: Bremen, Germany

How good is the Nano Memory Man?

Post by Zork » Wed Jan 25, 2023 2:30 pm

I'm on the fence. How good is it really? There seem to be lots of people complaining about excessive noise...?

User avatar
Zeus
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 279
Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2009 4:27 am
Location: Adelaide, Australia

Re: How good is the Nano Memory Man?

Post by Zeus » Wed Jan 25, 2023 5:20 pm

I think those complaining about excessive noise don't understand the nature of bucket brigade delay circuits.

IIRC, the Nano DMM allows longer delay times than the big boxes - it's impossible to do that without introducing additional noise and artifacts. That's not a criticism, it's just how it works.

I don't think there's meant to be any extra noise if you keep the delay times shorter, i.e. equivalent to the range of the originals.

User avatar
sal paradise
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 3596
Joined: Thu May 27, 2021 12:41 am

Re: How good is the Nano Memory Man?

Post by sal paradise » Wed Jan 25, 2023 10:17 pm

Yeah, I think 2 o’clock on the nano is equivalent to the original’s longest delay time.

Remembered this video that compares the two. You can see how delay is much longer on the nano, yet feedback & blend are softer than original.
I have nothing to offer anybody, except my own confusion?

User avatar
CorporateDisguise
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 777
Joined: Sun Mar 08, 2015 9:56 am
Location: NY

Re: How good is the Nano Memory Man?

Post by CorporateDisguise » Thu Jan 26, 2023 5:10 am

I think the Nano is the closest you can get to a big box currently. The noise is really only prevalent when you get the delay time over 400ish ms, which is about where to OG units max out. Everything above that is just icing on the cake. And its a cool sounding icing! I personally love the sound of an over taxed Bucket brigade chip. It gets a really cool lofi sound.

I really can’t recommend the Nano highly enough. The magic was there from the very first strum. It’s become my bread and butter delay, and other than some very niche sounds, it gets used for almost all my delay needs. I have a bunch of expensive digital delays crying in the corner atm.

For reference, I used to own a mid 2000s big box reissue, that I stupidly traded in a on a guitar that I’ve long since sold. Always figured I’d be able to get another big box, but they unfortunately discontinued it shortly after that, and used prices got out of control pretty quick. I tried to replace it with a tap tempo unit, but tonally it had nothing in common with a big box.

User avatar
nightgolf
PAT PEND
PAT PEND
Posts: 17
Joined: Fri Oct 28, 2016 11:39 am
Contact:

Re: How good is the Nano Memory Man?

Post by nightgolf » Sun Feb 05, 2023 11:23 am

I got one a few month ago and it's cool but I didn't love it anywhere near as much as I thought I would. Actually just bought an Echoplex delay box to "replace" it

User avatar
echobaseone
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 2030
Joined: Mon May 21, 2007 12:59 pm
Location: Everett, WA
Contact:

Re: How good is the Nano Memory Man?

Post by echobaseone » Mon Feb 06, 2023 9:00 am

It is EXCELLENT. I still have my 90s 3 prong DMM RI and while the Nano lacks a little bit of the "smear" which I think is a result of the RI internal preamp...it's as close as I've ever been able to find, and I've tried a bunch, some DMM-like, some not (Alter Ego/RE-2/RE-20/DM-2W/Echoplex/Echolution/El Cap/Echorec/etc). Plus it fits on my board, plus I don't get nervous taking it out of the house. I'm really happy with it.

User avatar
Zork
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1811
Joined: Thu Jan 19, 2012 7:01 am
Location: Bremen, Germany

Re: How good is the Nano Memory Man?

Post by Zork » Tue Feb 07, 2023 12:37 am

I think I'll get one soon. Thank you all for the replies. I used an Empress Tape delay for quite some time now, but it either disappears in the mix or washes all over the place. I can't get it to a usable middle ground. So I will use my Memory Boy for a bit and replace it eventually with the Nano Memory Man. The Memory Boy sounds really great, too, but has no tails feature.

Post Reply